Xbox One will 'certainly' play games after next system launches

Microsoft promises to support playback of games on Xbox One after the upcoming generation is over, and says that getting banned on Live won't prevent you from accessing your games library.

One of the potential consequences of Microsoft's decision to require daily online authentication for Xbox One games is the inability to play games after the company decides to sunset support for the console. Many gamers are concerned that once this upcoming generation comes to a close, Microsoft will no longer support the servers necessary to keep games running on Xbox One. With online server closures a regularity in the industry, perhaps that fear is justified.

However, Microsoft spokesperson Larry Hryb (aka "Major Nelson") says that Microsoft will never pull the plug on the One. "That's certainly something we would not do," he emphatically said. "That's not the way the system is designed. It's designed for flexibility."

He does note that it may be too early to hypothesize on these potential scenarios, however. "Let's get the system out there first," he told /r/games (via The Escapist).

At the heart of the Xbox One controversy is Microsoft's stance on games ownership. While in previous generations, gamers purchased games, on Xbox One, Microsoft is only allowing gamers to, essentially, rent them (however indefinitely). Another concern is that being banned on Xbox Live could result in losing access to one's games library. However, Hryb explicitly says that won't be the case. "Absolutely not," he said.

Microsoft has been on the defense during E3 due to its policies. Assuming Microsoft keeps its word, these comments should reassure fans. However, there are still other unanswered questions--for example, what will happen to games if there's even an Xbox Live outage, or a hacking incident like the one that took down PlayStation Network for an entire summer?